Various endoscopic procedures are used which involve the insertion of probe type devices such as a wire or needle into difficult to reach portions of the body for various medical purposes. For example, Endoscopic Retrograde Chlongio Pancreato Graphy (ERCP) utilizes a wire inserted into the bile duct. Since the bile duct is a difficult to reach area, there are difficulties with the conventional prior art techniques in locating the bile duct entrance. For example, it is necessary for the wire to enter the bile duct opening (pappila of vater) which might be only a 5 millimeter opening in order to locate the endoscope viewing area in the bile duct and pancreatic duct. This is conventionally done under fluoroscopy and conventionally is a blind process where a thin wire inserted through a catheter blindly probes by twirling or rotating the wire until the opening is found. It would be desirable if some technique could be developed wherein the surgeon can have a more convenient and more accurate procedure for inserting the wire into the bile duct opening.
Another known technique which utilizes an endoscope at difficult to reach areas involves the retrieval of cancerous cells by use of a fine needle to break up the cells in the tumor and then obtain the specimen from the cells through aspiration.